The Pan Book of Horror Stories

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The fact Brookes is prepared the ditch the love of his life on the suspicion that his genes may have in some unspecified way been tampered with, appears anachronistically outdated. Surely coming clean with the lady and offering to go for the snip would have been far more gentlemanly. THE BATS, by David Grant: A young boy breeds some unusual pets in the garden shed. There's a bleak, E.C. Comics-style atmosphere to this one, but Grant shies away from the expected grue. 3/5 Although come to think of it he must have noticed that the case he was burying weighed less than his wife's dismembered corpse? Could be men's suits and that extra pair of brogues were really heavy in those days. That must be it. A thirteen-year-old orphan girl is very fond of the obese bachelor who visits her regularly. His intentions are anything but wholesome. A disturbing tale of sexual menace. In the night someone (Edward is too drunk to ascertain the gender) visits his room and treats him to an hour’s fun'n'games. Was this Edward’s wife, their handsome servant boy Ahmed, or someone else altogether?

A bit rubbish to be frank, but Van Thal obviously had a keen eye for talent and Tanith Lee would go on to far greater things than this short-short. The story of a man who finds himself called to take on an unpleasant task as part of a computerised criminal justice system. This is an entertaining change of pace.Hand In Hand’ (M. S. Waddell). A man who has killed a woman and is dismembering the body is interrupted by callers at the door. Short, well written and enjoyable humorous horror piece that, for me, is only let down by its final sentence. I expected a bit more.

The Confessions Of Charles Linkworth’ (E.F. Benson). A prison doctor senses something from a recently executed prisoner. Fine story from one of the old masters of the genre. Dream House’ (Dulcie Gray). Two good one’s in a row from this writer whose style is a pleasure to read. A large overbearing woman and her skinny quiet husband take out a long term lease on a large country house. This is another character horror. I wasn’t expecting the denouement. Stealing from the dead is always a risky move in horror stories. Williams really lays on the sadism once again. Barbara Field Benziger (1918-1084) was an American writer who specialised in non-fiction about mental illness. In 1956, she survived the sinking of the ocean liner Andrea Doria. Gerald Kersh (1911-1968) was a British-born American writer of novels and short stories. His most famous novel is Night and the City (1938) which was the basis for the 1950 film directed by Jules Dassin. This is another story of something unspeakable lurking in the jungle, but with a difference.One odd fixation was about evil children, who are inclined to strip the flesh from your bones with their bare teeth as soon as look at you in the Pan Books. I guess these authors were working out their own difficult childhoods, and there must be a lot of wish fulfillment in here. The kids’ victims are always adults.